National Farm Worker Ministry
112 Cox Ave, Suite 208 Raleigh, NC 27605
Tel 919.807.8707
www.nfwm.org
FARM LABOR ORGANIZIN G COMMIT TEE
REYNOLDS TOBACCO CAM PAIGN
The Farm Labor Organizing Committee is called upon to challenge the deplorable conditions
of the broader workforce that remains voiceless, powerless, and invisible to mainstream
America.
*Recreated, in part, from www.floc.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
History of FLOC __________________________________________________________________________________________ 1
NFWM and FLOC _________________________________________________________________________________________ 2
Campaign Timeline and Victories ____________________________________________________________________ 3-4
Farm Worker Stories_____________________________________________________________________________________ 5
Reynolds Tobacco Campaign Talking Points _________________________________________________________ 6-7
How you can support the Reynolds Tobacco Campaign ______________________________________________ 8
Faith and Farm Workers _________________________________________________________________________________ 9
FARM LABOR ORGANIZING COMMITTEE (FLOC)
History of FLOC
FLOC began in the mid-1960s when Baldemar Velasquez convinced a small group of migrant farm workers
in northwest Ohio to come together for their common good. As numbers grew, together they mobilized in a
crucial fight against the mechanization of migrant worker jobs in a boycott on Campbell Soup Company,
even as they faced opposition from the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial
Organizations. Initial successes generated strong reactions in the agricultural industry that has been
structured to benefit those at the top while exploiting laborers at the bottom. It took several years for FLOC
to build a base among farm workers in the area. Since then, FLOC has built a membership of tens of
thousands of migrant farm workers by incorporating two key principles:
1.
2.
Farm workers need a voice in the decisions that
affect them: allowing workers to form a union
and collectively bargain with their employer is
the only way to address the huge imbalance of
power and provide an effective structure for selfdetermination.
Bring all parties to the table to address industry
wide problems: large agricultural corporations
have created a supply chain that enriches its
executives at the expense of those who work in
the fields. These corporations have the wealth
and power to change the harsh realities that many farm workers face. FLOC seeks a structure
where all those in the supply chain work together to solve problems: corporations, growers, and
farm workers.
Through the many successes of FLOC, conditions of members have changed dramatically over the years.
Not only have wages increased, but housing and other conditions have been improved. The greatest
improvement, though, is that workers have a direct voice in their conditions through collective bargaining
agreements that include an effective process for resolving grievances and problems. The movement
continues to grow by building a strong popular base of supporters interested in justice. Corporations have
tremendous economic and political power, but millions of people who mobilize in support of justice can
collectively tip the balance of power to benefit farm workers.
Today FLOC continues to mobilize farm workers for social justice through assisting community organizing
among groups such as Fuerza Y Libertad, the Northwest Ohio Immigration Forum, and—for more than 10
years—a Mobile Health Clinic through a partnership with the Campaign for Migrant Worker Justice.
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FARM LABOR ORGANIZING COMMITTEE (FLOC)
NFWM and FLOC
FLOC President Baldemar Velasquez called on the backing
of faith communities to support the Campbell Soup Boycott
in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. NFWM was there to
answer that call and has been a steadfast partner in justice
from the beginning.
Key Historic NFWM Actions in Support of FLOC:
-In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, NFWM mobilized people of faith to support FLOC’s call to boycott
Campbell Soup and bring awareness to the dismal working and living conditions of tomato and pickle farm
workers in the US.
-August of 1983, President Velasquez, joined by NFWM and
Cesar Chavez, led a 560-mile march from Toledo, OH to
Camden, NJ where the Campbell Soup headquarters are
located.
-After the 1986 victory of the Campbell Soup boycott, President
Velasquez again called on NFWM to mobilize with FLOC and
support a boycott on the North Carolina-based Mt. Olive
Pickles.
-In 2006, FLOC launched the Reynolds American Tobacco
Campaign to negotiate better conditions for tobacco farm workers in the Southeast. This campaign is a
multi-tiered, complex campaign designed for holding large, corporate purchasers responsible for the living
and working situations of workers in their supply chain.
-With the formation of the NFWM-YAYA network in Orlando came a new generation of farm worker
supporters. NFWM-YAYA provides consistent solidarity at FLOC rallies and events. They also do actions at
WAWA stores in Florida, demanding justice for tobacco farm workers.
-Today, the Reynolds American Tobacco Campaign is making headway in an industry grounded in
oppression. NFWM maintains steadfast support of FLOC by mobilizing supporters for the past seven
annual Reynolds Shareholders’ Meetings, participating in actions and rallies outside of stores within the
Reynolds supply chain, and maintaining unwavering backing from our faith communities through letter
writing and calls to corporate executives. NFWM also provides organizing and education support for
FLOC’s 2014 Summer Sign-Up Campaign. This campaign has the lofty goal of signing up 5,000 new FLOC
union card members over the 2014 summer months.
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FARM LABOR ORGANIZING COMMITTEE (FLOC)
Campaign Timeline and Victories
 In 1978, President Velasquez led over 2,000 FLOC members on strike in Ohio, the largest in the
agricultural history of the Midwest. They demanded union recognition and a multi-party
bargaining agreement.
 The following year, in 1979, FLOC held its first constitutional convention as a labor union, and the
workers voted to boycott Campbell Soup in their call for negotiations. FLOC struggled for eight
years to win the first tri-party contract.
 In 1983, Baldemar led a 560-mile march of 100 farmworkers from Toledo, Ohio to Campbell’s
headquarters in Camden, New Jersey.
 The pressure of FLOC actions and the support of allies across the nation for the boycott eventually
convinced Campbell Soup that the issue was not going away. In 1986, FLOC signed three-way
contracts with Campbell Soup and its tomato and pickle grower associations in Ohio and Michigan.
 This victory was soon extended to Heinz and other major food-processing corporations in the
Midwest as well as fresh-market producers. Under union contracts, some 8,000 workers—many
who had worked under exploitive “share-cropping” arrangements—received employee status, and
wages and benefits more than doubled.
 New housing in migrant camps and other conditions also significantly improved. Under grievance
procedures established in the union contracts, FLOC workers also have a direct voice in their dayto-day working conditions and can file complaints without fear of retaliation.
 In 1998, FLOC began organizing farm workers in North Carolina, the other major region in the U.S.
where pickles are produced. After organizing thousands of farm workers and a 5-year boycott of
Mt. Olive Pickles, in 2003 FLOC won another three-way contract with Mount Olive and the North
Carolina Growers Association. The North Carolina Growers Association represented workers not
only involved with pickles, but also sweet potatoes, tobacco, Christmas trees, and other crops.
 These contracts also set labor history, not only by changing the agricultural system but also by
bringing in H2A “guest workers” under union contracts. Formerly, these workers had little say in
who employed them or in the conditions of their work. Now, through FLOC, they have their own
voice and are directly involved in labor negotiations, grievance procedures, and building structures
to address issues like transportation from their home areas in Mexico, health care, and
immigration policies.
 In 2001, FLOC partnered with the United Farm Workers to file a lawsuit against the United States
Department of Labor for ignoring wage requirements and failing to enforce the law on cucumber
growers who were underpaying more than 30,000 guest workers.
 In 2005, FLOC and UFW won their lawsuit, and the noncompliant employers were finally forced to
pay up—$1.4 million in compensation for the deductions illegally stolen from the salaries of North
Carolina workers.
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FARM LABOR ORGANIZING COMMITTEE (FLOC)
 In 2006, FLOC propelled forward with the Reynolds American Tobacco Campaign that organized
tens of thousands of tobacco farm workers throughout North Carolina and the South while also
calling on large tobacco companies to take responsibility for the human rights violations that were
occurring in their supply chains.
 In 2012, on May 3, FLOC mobilized with several other organizations to disrupt a meeting of CEOs
at R.J. Reynolds Headquarters and confront them about the crimes committed against tobacco farm
workers. They demanded acknowledgment of these crimes and, ultimately, reform for providing
relief to the suffering workers. R.J.R agreed to a meeting and FLOC took to the streets of WinstonSalem, NC to celebrate.
 In September of 2012 over 200 religious leaders signed a letter sent to Reynolds CEO and directors
on behalf of tobacco farm workers. The letter calls on RAI to work with FLOC to develop a written
agreement establishing a process guaranteeing freedom of association and collective bargaining
for tobacco farm workers in the RAI supply chain.
 In April of 2014, FLOC announced a summer organizing campaign—“Respect, Recognition,
Raise!”—intended to sign up 5,000 new union cardholders along the East Coast. Three important
shareholders’ meetings have followed.
 On April 30th of 2014, FLOC President Baldemar Velasquez travelled to London, England to attend
British American Tobacco’s (BAT) Annual General Meeting. As BAT represents 42% of Reynolds
American and has five board members on the Reynolds Board, they represent an important
stakeholder in the FLOC Reynolds Campaign. President Velasquez received confirmation from two
members of the British Parliament that they have accepted his invitation to visit the fields in North
Carolina this summer.
 On May 7th of 2014, Dr. Alvin Jackson, Pastor of Park Avenue Christian Church in New York City and
Assistant Pastor for Outreach Rev. Luis-Alfredo Cartagena Zayas joined Michael Szpak from the
AFL-CIO for the Philip Morris International (PMI) Annual Shareholders’ Meeting in New York.
Unlike BAT, Philip Morris International in not a shareholder in Reynolds American. However, as the
largest purchaser of tobacco products in the Southeast and fellow member of the FLPG, PMI holds
great influence in the tobacco industry. PMI Chairman of the Board Louis C. Camilleri responded to
requests urging responsibility to address human rights abuses by indicating that PMI would finally
meet with FLOC.
 On May 8th of 2014, Reynolds American hosted their Annual Shareholders’ Meeting in WinstonSalem, NC. Dozens of FLOC supporters directed questions at RAI executives about everything from
the ineffectiveness of the Keystone group to what, if anything, RAI is prepared to do to protect
workers from retaliation during this summer sign-up campaign. Several times Reynolds Chairman
Thomas Wajnert alluded to laws that protect farm workers and ensure them the right to organize.
FLOC supporters proceeded to remind Chairman Wajnert that farm workers are excluded from
many labor law protections including protection from retaliation for seeking remediation of
grievances for union organizing.
 In July of 2014, nearly 500 religious leaders signed another letter sent to Reynolds CEO and
directors on behalf of tobacco farm workers.
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FARM LABOR ORGANIZING COMMITTEE (FLOC)
Farm Worker Stories
Testimony from FLOC workers
In the late 1990’s, Pasqual (left in adjacent image) came to the
United States from Mexico in search of agricultural work and an
opportunity to better his living conditions. He freely talks about
the hardships endured in Mexico, including a severe lack of jobs,
gang violence, and the overall corruption. When he first arrived
in the United States, Pasqual began working in North Carolina
and was assigned to a corrupt and abusive crew leader. He said,
“My crew leader was very mean. He would yell at us and take
our money. Things were bad.”
The next year, Pasqual met FLOC President Baldemar Velasquez.
President Velasquez introduced Pasqual to the accomplishments
of the union and the huge changes that having a voice in your
own circumstances can facilitate. Pasqual said about FLOC, “the union has made so many things better. We
can talk until the night comes about the abuses but I want to focus on what we have accomplished. Things
are better and that is what I want people to remember. What [FLOC] is doing is working.”
Raul (left in adjacent image) left his home in Mexico in
1996 for a job on a Georgia farm. When he arrived in
Georgia, farm workers were being forced to hand over
their passports and were threatened with being
“blacklisted” from working in the United States if they did
not comply. Raul refused to give up his passport and
returned to Mexico without working that season. The
next year he made his second trip to the United States,
this time heading for a North Carolina tobacco field.
President Baldemar Velasquez met him at the North
Carolina Growers Association building and told him about
FLOC. Although he was hesitant after his experience in
Georgia, Raul said that he “liked what President Velasquez was saying,” and so he joined the union. Now,
Raul is more than willing to participate in any FLOC action he can because he sees the strength in being
part of FLOC. “If there is a march, a rally, or a picket, anywhere I am needed, I will be there!”
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FARM LABOR ORGANIZING COMMITTEE (FLOC)
Reynolds American Tobacco Campaign Talking Points
Page 6
o
R.J. Reynolds is the second largest tobacco company in the U.S., responsible for one in every three
cigarettes sold on the market.
o
Farm workers employed by corporate giants in the tobacco industry suffer as victims of poverty,
racism, harassment, nicotine poisoning, lethal pesticides, miserable housing in labor camps, and
denial of basic human rights and labor protections.
o
Tobacco farm workers are at great risk of heatstroke due to the following two factors: the body
temperature-raising effects of nicotine on the farm worker and the lack of mandatory water breaks
during long periods of labor out in the hot fields.
o
Nine farm workers have died in North Carolina in the last decade. In a five-year period, seven died
of heat-related illnesses.
o
Nicotine poisoning causes Green Tobacco Sickness (GTS), characterized by nausea, vomiting,
weakness, dizziness, and an occasional increase in blood pressure and heart rate.
o
Tobacco workers are exposed to toxic pesticides on a daily basis. The consequences of exposure
include reproductive problems, birth defects, Alzheimer’s, Diabetes, cancer, autism, and memory
loss among other things.
o
FLOC, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, represents farm workers who pick tobacco under a
collective bargaining agreement with the North Carolina Growers Association (NCGA) as well as
farm workers in Michigan and Ohio.
o
FLOC is working to hold RAI (Reynolds American Inc.) accountable to agreed upon rights for
farmer workers including the freedom of association.
o
According to the PMI Agricultural Labor Practices Code, farmers are required to recognize and
respect workers’ rights to freedom of association and to bargain collectively.
o
RAI does not directly employ tobacco farm workers. However, by contracting with growers, they
influence the standards that directly impact the living and working conditions of tobacco farm
workers.
o
RAI has failed to implement the standards for human rights they have agreed to by not taking
responsibility for the injustices committed by their contract growers.
FARM LABOR ORGANIZING COMMITTEE (FLOC)
Talking Points Continued:
They have also denied known exploitation of farm workers employed at their contract farms.
Page 7
o
On June 5, 2012, FLOC President Velasquez met with Mr. Martin Holmann III, RAI Executive Vice
President and General Council, at FLOC headquarters in Toledo, OH. The meeting was for
discussing ways that Reynolds can work towards ensuring safer and healthier conditions and the
labor and human rights of tobacco farm workers in the supply chain. Such meetings were difficult
to achieve.
o
In September 2012, over 200 religious leaders signed a letter sent to Reynolds CEO and directors
on behalf of tobacco farm workers. The letter calls on RAI to work with FLOC to develop a written
agreement establishing a process guaranteeing freedom of association and collective bargaining
for tobacco farm workers in the RAI supply chain. In this way, RAI would affirm the voices of the
tobacco farm workers, address common concerns, identify and work toward eliminating abuses in
the supply chain, and ultimately improve their living and working conditions.
o
In April 2014, FLOC announced a summer organizing campaign called “Respect, Recognition,
Raise!” This campaign aimed at signing up 5,000 new union cardholders along the East Coast.
Since then, three significant shareholders’ meetings have followed.
o
The first meeting was convened on April 40th in London, England between President Baldemar
Velasquez and British American Tobacco (BAT). Baldemar was able to receive confirmation from
two members of British Parliament that they had accepted his invitation to visit the fields in North
Carolina this summer.
o
The second meeting was convened on May 7th in New York City between religious leader Dr. Alvin
Jackson and Philip Morris International (PMI). PMI Chairman of the Board Louis C. Camilleri
agreed to meet with FLOC to discuss PMI’s responsibility in addressing human rights abuses.
o
The third meeting was convened on May 8th in Winston-Salem, NC, involving FLOC supporters who
directly questioned executives of Reynolds American. Chairman Wajnert repeatedly alluded to
laws that protect farm workers and ensure them the right to organize, and FLOC supporters had to
remind him that farm workers are excluded from many labor law protections including protection
from retaliation for seeking remediation of grievances or union organizing.
o
In July of 2014, two members of British Parliament accepted FLOC’s invitation to visit the fields in
North Carolina. They were appalled at the living and working conditions. Also in July, another
religious leaders letter was sent to RAI directors - this time with nearly 500 signatories.
FARM LABOR ORGANIZING COMMITTEE (FLOC)
How You Can Support the Reynolds American Tobacco
Campaign
The Farm Labor Organizing Committee has seen valuable
victories in its extensive history. These victories have
allowed FLOC to become a competent and sustainable
player in an industry with a long history of subjugating
workers. There are a variety of ways in which individuals
and organizations can show support for tobacco farm
workers through the work of the Farm Labor Organizing
Committee.
-EQUIP: Organize supporters to email Reynolds’
leadership team about the abuses in North Carolina
tobacco fields. Pressure them to join in a conversation
with FLOC and move forward in ending human rights
abuses in the Southern United States. Find sample letters
and resources at www.floc.com/wordpress/join-us.
-EDUCATE: Take the Reynolds American Tobacco Campaign talking points (Pages 5-6) and educate your
community about the importance of justice for tobacco workers. Host a house party, speak to your local
church congregation, or hand out flyers outside stores in Reynolds’ supply chain such as Kangaroo Express
or WAWA’s.
-MOBILIZE: Participate in an action in front of your local Kangaroo Express or WAWA convenience store.
These stores are in the Reynolds American Tobacco supply chain and have the responsibility to address the
abuses occurring to tobacco farm workers. Plan to attend the annual Reynolds Shareholders’ Meeting each
year in May, located in Winston-Salem, NC. The mobilization of FLOC allies for this meeting, and the rally
that follows, is an important component to the Reynolds American Tobacco Campaign. Check out
www.nfwm.org to stay up-to-date on FLOC actions occurring in your community.
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FARM LABOR ORGANIZING COMMITTEE (FLOC)
Faith and Farm Workers
Since the days of Cesar Chavez and the birth of the United Farm Workers, the faith community and the farm
worker movement have been intertwined. There is a clear link between our calling as leaders of faith and
the need to support justice for the dispossessed men, women, and children who harvest our food. The
combined voices of people of faith create a wave of justice that cannot be stopped. For seven years FLOC,
faith leaders, and other community activists from coast to coast have banded together to pressure Reynolds
American to address human rights abuses in their tobacco supply chain. As seven years is far too long to
wait for justice, we have the responsibility to stand up to inequalities rather than turning a blind eye.
Without the religious support it would have been impossible to win our campaigns.
-Arturo Rodriguez, President, United Farm Workers
When everyone else said no—that we couldn’t change companies and organize farm
workers—[the faith community] said yes. Without the church, FLOC would not exist.
-President Baldemar Velasquez, Farm Labor Organizing Committee
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